Technical how to add leafs to model A spring with loosing my face

I am needing to add a few leafs to my model A rear spring and am unsure about the best way to do this? I have a spring spreader I am using to remove my current spring out from the car. Do I need to leave the spring spreader in the spring when I take the center bolt out? I know I should use some c clamps and maybe a strap but any suggestions would be helpful.

I am needing to raise the car around 1 inch to 1.25 inches. I am planning on cutting the eyes out of my main spare spring and adding that to my spring pack along with a few more leafs. Any suggestions on how many leafs to add of which ones to add to gain that inch and not loose all the comfort when it come to the ride.

Thanks

 

G clamps, g clamps and more g clamps.

 

Take the spring out of the car and then add the leafs. Remove the spreader and let the spring relax. While you are at it lightly sand between each leaf and something I did to improve the ride was to coat between each leaf with anti seize compound. It really works! Also while you are at replace the center bolt with a new one. When you reassemble the spring do what 28A recommends the more "C" clamps the better until you get the center bolt tight.

 

We call em C clamps here, but they do look more like a G, lol. In or out of the car, clamp the crap out of it, remove the bolt and replace it with a 12" piece of threaded rod. A nut and a couple of washers on each side. Tighten it down, remove the clamps and start loosening one of the nuts. It will start to seperate and the threaded rod will keep it from flying all over. Put it back together the same way.

 

Technically speaking the two clamps are different. There are both C and G clamps.



This is what we refer to as a G clamp, although i guess it looks more like an F now that i think about it. This is the clamps i use for everything, including pulling apart leaf springs without dying in the process.

 

Learn something new every day,,I don't think I have ever seen a G clamp. HRP

 

Wouldn't it be better to use a spacer or a differently-shaped crossmember or have the spring rearched to raise the car rather than adding leaves and stiffening the ride?

Just asking. Maybe someone more experienced can answer.

 

I was thinking spacer as well..but regardless you need to pull the rear and remove the spring from the axle to do it safely. A spacer would need a new center bolt so you are taking the pack apart regardless.

 

Make sure you use a spring spreader if you plan on letting the shackles go!
I took one off a housing and as I popped the plate off one of the shackles, the preload was so strong it snapped the other half of the shackle unit in two and almost slapped my face for me!
What a rush!
It's one of those things you only do ONCE...and I was very lucky not to get busted up!

 

I've done a number of springs that way and it is a safe way to take them apart and assemble them. On the assembly you get them all together and get the leaves tight to each other and then swap the long bolt for the correct spring bolt and you are good to go.

 

I'd figure on using a new center bolt at any rate. If it is the original center bolt it is probably going to be pretty ugly when you get it out.

 

I've found that some all thread with washers and nuts both top and bottom going through the center bolt hole also helps along with the clamps and acts as a safety check if one of the clamps slips.


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If it's a stock spring. Doesn't work on reversed eye springs.

 

I am using a spring spreader. I did have a 1 inch spacer in the car now made out of aluminum but it is very crude. I have a hole bored in the bottom and a bolt sticking out the to so it sits on top of my current spring in between the spring and rear cross member. I am not happy with the spacer and my car seems to bottom out just a hair at times. I am a tall guy 6'4" and around 265 so a lil stiffer spring may help?

Which leafs should I add to raise the car ? Also I am running a 1940 ford rear with the spring behind setup. The frame we built is stretched to compensate for the spring behind setup. I may be wrong but in my mind the model a spring isn't as wide as the 1940 spring so I am stretching the spring more than it was originally. In turn making the spring less stiff so if I ad leafs I feel this may help. I could be wrong so please chime in.

Thanks

 

...then disassemble and assemble the leafs ON the rearend using C clamps.
The main alone will have MUCH less preload to worry about when you finally remove the shackles at that point.
I'm tellin' ya...try to remove the shackles with all leaves in place and no spreader...and you are gonna get a smack!
I just got lucky!

 

Yes the 37-41 axle is wider so the A spring has to stretch to get it on. That's what I'm running. Stretching it farther makes it flatter sort of so you lose some height but it's not a lot. You could try adding some leafs on top of the main leaf. That might help.

 

Yeah that's how I do it. I clamp it, remove the bolt. I have a long piece of threaded rod and a piece of 2x3 tube that I run under both the spring eyes with a hole through the center of the tube. Put the threaded rod through the spring and down through the tube. Tighten till the shackles are loose and remove them. Pull it out and put on the bench, clamp it and remove the tube and then the method I talked about earlier. I'm just sayin the spreader only works with stock springs.

 

Hmmm...thats a pretty neat way to do it...just all-thread and a piece of tube. Gotta keep that in mind!

 

Should I leave the spreader in the spring while I remove the leafs will this make it easier?

 

That's how I do it ^^^
Also have a 12" c clamp and made a little keeper devise to keep the foot from moving around. It's just a small piece of fabbed channel with a hole in it for the centering pin and a sliver of pipe to keep the clamp foot from wandering or slipping off. That saves you the trouble of needing to re -do the center bolt for some jobs.

For the tube, I added keeper wings on the ends and a smooth roller over a bolt so it doesn't mess up a chrome spring.

I'm sure all this stuff was standard in every service garage at one time.

 

do not use grade 2 hardware or big box store threaded rod Get some good stuff. The few bucks on rod is cheaper than a trip to the emergency room.


No, you use the spreader to mount , dis mount the shackles on a built up spring pack.
After you are free of the shackles remove the spreader and put the spring on the bench. Clamp the spring and then swap the center bolt for the threaded rod and then dis assemble the spring pack.

If you want to leave the main leaf on the shackles and work under the car you can do it without a spreader 99% of the time. But it's harder and requires more force and there is more potential energy to cause injury.

 

You'll need some pretty stout clamps. Every time I've done it the axle has been off my "A" and I've wrapped the spring with 15 feet of chain and bolted the ends of the chain to itself... One time the clamps slid off, it's scary the amount of energy that is stored in that spring!! but the chain held, and it only took a few minutes to add the chain.

 

Also, if anyone is worried about the all-thread stripping...use the long 2"ish joiner nuts to give way more thread contact area. A bit of grease wouldn't go astray either.

 

Model A rear spring perches are 49-1/2" inches center-to-center, while
'40 rear spring perches are 48" center-to-center; so the A spring is actually
has less preload (spread) when on later axles than in its original application.
Don't know how that really effects things like height and ride since A springs
have been used successfully on late axles for years; but something to consider.

 

I'm wanting to raise it and stiffen it up a little as well

 

how leafs do you have now?

I'd try seven.

I've been playing with mine on my pickup. It was originally ten. now 6. I swapped in a reverse eye spring and took out the second leaf and every other one. The second leaf is a little to long and It's a little to soft. I am gonna shorten longest one I took out and try that. bringing me to seven.

 

I see. Nevermind.

 

NAPA sells long spring pack bolts. I use a new one every time I reassemble a spring pack. I also put anti seize on the bolt threads. If you don't, the nut can gall (friction weld) to the bolt when you tighten everything up.

I have never had the "too low problem."

 

McMaster-Carr sells Grade-8 all thread and hardened washers.